Found this in one of the answers by JessiYari: "No. i am an Atheist, i believe in science." I've also heard other people saying the same a few times before.
I understand what atheism is, but what is "believing in science"?
2006-06-21 04:57:37 · 11 answers · asked by ringm 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Most of the answers are approximately the same. It's all 100% clear, but one should understand that only the mentally ill discard scientific facts. It might take a few bonfires, but people of all confessions do eventually accept that the Earth is round, that antibiotics work better than prayer for infections, etc. Even if one believes that our whole world is an illusion, he accepts scientific facts about this illusion. Even if one believes in God, he accepts scientific facts about the God's creation. These facts are just necessary for our daily life, and they just work for our daily life.
So finally it's all just about being reasonable and non-dogmatic, and not about accepting the scientific method, right?
2006-06-21 05:46:06 · update #1
As far as I can read it, people who say they "believe in science" are saying that they believe that the methods of science can be trusted to reveal as much about how the universe works as is possible. One of the most important aspects of this is that they are claiming that naturalism is correct - the first paragraph of my first Wikipedia source link explains it well.
Really, the reason why many atheists will say they "believe in science" is because they often encounter people who will say that science cannot test magic, or that science cannot test the Bible, or that scientists are conspiring to hide evidence of aliens or creationism or the nonexistence of global warming or ... well, you see what I mean. Believing in science may not exclude the last of these (though given how many scientists from how many directions look at those subjects, any global conspiracy would be worse than impossible to maintain), but it does exclude saying that science is _fundamentally_ blind to certain phenomenon. If I believe in science, then I believe that anything which can be noticed, anything _real_, can be seen and studied with the methods of science.
I assume that "I believe in science" may sometimes appear in other contexts, too - in those cases, the speaker is probably explaining why she (or he) does not believe a particular probably-pseudoscientific claim.
2006-06-21 05:22:19 · answer #1 · answered by peri_renna 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Strictly speaking, nothing actually. Science is not a belief system. When a scientist says, for example, "I believe there is a field permeating the entire space", he/she is using the word "believe" in a diametrically opposite way to how it is usually used. He/she is saying that there is not an iota of evidence and it's just his/her guess/gut feeling. For known facts, science doesn't use the words like "believe" or "faith", neither does it require "belief". The only three fundamental "beliefs", so to say, are
1- The universe exists.
2- The laws of the universe can be deduced thru observations and experimentation.
3- The laws do not change thru space and time.
That's all there is to "belief" in science. These are important because if any of those three are not true, the scientific discovery becomes meaningless.
2006-06-21 05:04:30 · answer #2 · answered by Sagan4U 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I expect when most people say this, what they mean is they believe in facts as backed by evidence and proven by scientific method. You are contrasting this to religion in your question; much of religion is based on faith. I have no proof that X is true, but I just "know" it is. This is not scientific, as there is no data to back your assertion, and no experiment you could do to prove you were right. And there doesn't always have to be; if you are comfortable in your beliefs, then more power to you. But some people are scientifically minded, and are not likely to be comfortable believing things without supporting data.
2006-06-21 05:01:10 · answer #3 · answered by dpawson 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Aleks is right. I believe in the methodology of finding out answers of the world around me. Saying I believe "in science" is just shorthand.
As for science or scientific answers, I would sooner trust that over any and all the sacred texts of the world.
2006-06-21 05:08:35 · answer #4 · answered by Nikki 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Generaly they are talking about the scientific explanation for how the world works. People that "don't believe in science" are getting their information about the world from one of many religious texts. You know, stuff like walking on water, or getting 72 virgins in heaven.
2006-06-21 05:08:37 · answer #5 · answered by Roblem 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one goes around saying: "Everything is untrue!" (Which is obviously a contradiction.)
Scientists do "believe" that proposals and theories must be approached with skepticism - a kind of "Prove it!" attitude. And they have developed a method and procedures for arriving at "proof" for those conjectures. Even then, scientists still "believe" that a theoretical framework that's been "proven" can be revised, or even overturned, if new evidence points to inconsistencies.
The reasons they have these beliefs is that, when applied to reality, they work as predicted.
2006-06-21 05:14:19 · answer #6 · answered by JAT 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe I am made of carbon atoms I believe that those carbon atoms are old beyond the meaning of time and that many of the carbon atoms in me have been 'alive' many times and that when i decay they will eventually combine with the right chemistry to be a gas again and then alive again, no god required
2016-03-26 23:54:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
lol, they're just saying that "i believe that the scientific method can lead us to understand truths about our world"
i believe in science is just shorter.
if they mean they believe in science like some believe in christianity, then there's something wrong there.
2006-06-21 05:00:59 · answer #8 · answered by Aleks 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
many people feel that science provides better answers to the questions of the origin of the earth, mankind's origin, than the Bible and the Church.
saying "I believe in science" is a quick way to state that.
2006-06-21 05:05:59 · answer #9 · answered by Kenny ♣ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Makes as much sense as "believing in God." Fortunately, science holds up to logic and questioning.
This I believe!
2006-06-21 05:05:13 · answer #10 · answered by Hatikvah 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋